Saturday, February 23, 2013

Rock of Ages...
I am in a ship tossed about.
My cargo is ...
Grief... unbearable
Questions... unanswered
I see you...
From a distance.
Oh God my rock,
My grief is so great...
I may drown in it.
The water is overflowing...
Spilling over the ship.
I'm coming closer.
I can see you are near but...
I'm afraid I will crash.
Crash onto you, The Rock.
Dear God I'm crashing...
I crash my ship of grief
Onto The Rock of ages.
My ship breaks open.
Spilling its contents...
All over the rock
But...
I do not drown.
I am saved...
Delivered.
I find refuge...
Shelter.
I climb on.
I hang on.
I gain strength.
Oh Rock who bore me..
Rock who formed me.
I will live upon the rock.
The Rock of Ages.

Written for a grieving family, dear friends. May God be your Rock during this difficult time.

Based on Psalm 18:2:

"The LORD is my rock, my fortress and my deliverer; my God is my rock, in whom I take refuge. He is my shield and the horn of my salvation, my stronghold."

Saturday, February 9, 2013

One reason it's hard is we live in an impatient world. We want it, and we want it now!

We want things fast... slim-fast, instagram, quicken loans, etc. This is the society we live in. The microwave doesn't even seem fast enough!

Micah 7:7 says, " But as for me, I will watch expectantly for the LORD; I will wait for the God of my salvation. My God will hear me."

" Wait for the LORD; Be strong and let your heart take courage; Yes, wait for the LORD." Psalm 27:14

" I waited patiently for the LORD; and he inclined to me and heard my cry." Psalm 40:1

1. Wait. ( for the Lord). In all of these Scriptures above, it doesn't say wait ON the Lord, it says wait FOR the Lord!

2. When you're waiting, God waits with you.

" Therefore the LORD waits to be gracious to you, and therefore He exalts Himself to show mercy to you. For the LORD is a God of justice; blessed are all those who wait for Him." Isaiah 39:18 (ESV)

So He waits that He may be gracious. You will be blessed if you wait for Him.

Wait... for His timing... wait for His purpose.. He is working even if you don't see it!

3. God still hears you.

Wait.... and in your waiting know that He still hears you. In two of the verses above it says that God hears your cry and your prayer.

" ... Do not be afraid, Daniel, for from the first day that you set your heart on understanding this and on humbling yourself before your God, your words were heard, and I have come in response to your words." Daniel 10:12

Don't lose heart dear Christian, He hears you...

4. God will give you strength to wait.

" Those who wait for the LORD will gain new strength; They will mount up with wings like eagles, They will run and not get tired, They will walk and not become weary." Isaiah 41:10

Don't lose hope. God will give you strength to wait. A renewed strength for the journey ahead. Who knows but what in this journey of waiting, when you can't seem to put one foot in front of the other.....

Thursday, February 7, 2013

If you watched the Super Bowl last Sunday night you may have seen a great commercial. I'm not much into football, so I mainly watch the commercials. My favorite commercial was "God Made a Farmer". I think that commercial touched the hearts and struck a chord with many people all over this country.

But why?

Why did it sink so deep into our psyche?

I cannot speak for everyone, but I have some thoughts...

I believe we love and miss Paul Harvey. It was so great to hear his voice again. The first thing you saw and heard was an old rustic looking church, then Paul Harvey's clear voice ringing out the words..." God created and then He needed a caretaker...a farmer to tend it." I believe that even if people don't go to church, they loved to see an old church; the nostalgia of it. I wonder sometimes if people aren't just a little tired of all the glitz and glamor in some of our churches? The slick Madison Avenue kind of church.

We long for the little church in the wild wood.
That makes us think of our childhood.

Then, we saw the slightly smiling face of a farmer... looking like he had a secret. The rugged and wrinkled face of this man was a welcome sight to many people who have grown tired of the "pulled tight" look of the Hollywood face. Just the realness and friendliness of his face was so welcoming.

We long for people who are friendly and real when we are surrounded by phonies.
We would love it if he was our neighbor.

Then, we saw the rugged hands of a hard working farmer. The faceless image spoke volumes of someone who has worked hard from sun-up to sun-down. It was refreshing to see someone who in this society of the "entitlement mentality" didn't mind to work hard for his livelihood. We as a nation wanted to see that! I would go so far as to say, we NEEDED to see that!

Then, at the end, he said we are all farmers. Many of us are...

The Mother who works with her child, teaching that child right from wrong.

The Father who gets up early and goes off to work, day in and day out.

They are both planting a seed into that child.

The teacher that teaches lessons in school and lessons in character, waters the seed.

The Pastor, the Sunday School teacher, who teaches the lessons each week and preaches the sermons, they are also planting a seed.

The Christian friend who speaks a word into the heart where the seed has been planted; he or she waters the seed. Someone may come behind and harvest.